Prime Minister's Office
English rendering of PM’s address at Economic Times Global Business Summit
On this forum of Global Business Summit, The Economic Times has given me the opportunity to speak in the presence of the experts from all over the world. Since this morning, in your presence, several topics have been discussed here and the prominent personalities of the business world have shared their ideas; and the common thread in this flow of ideas is 'Collaborate to Create'. This vision of 'Collaborate to Create' is the need of the hour and also the basis for future; and we all know that this vision has not suddenly come out of the thoughts of the last few years. World has experience of what harm is caused by separatism. When we walked together everything was under control, but when we stood against one another, we were shattered.
The idea of ‘Collaborate to Create’ is old, yet very much relevant today. In every age new challenges emerge to further strengthen the spirit of our idea of 'Collaborate to Create'.
Like today, the world is facing a huge challenge in the form of "Corona Virus". Financial Institutions have also considered it as a big challenge for the financial world. Today we all have to face this challenge together. We have to be victorious with the power of our resolution of 'Collaborate to Create'.
Friends,
You are also going to brainstorm here on the philosophy of Fractured World. Real Fractures, Over-Imagined Fractures and its responsible factors will also be discussed.
Friends,
There was a time when things used to run according to the predictions of a particular class. The opinion they gave was considered to be final. But with the development of technology and the democratization of discourse now the opinion of people from every section of the society matters. Today the general public is registering its opinion very strongly; often the opinions are in stark contrast to the so called established wisdom. Earlier, the arguments and theories of one particular class used to dominate the hopes and expectations of the general public. It was a major reason that when you gave us the opportunity to serve in 2014 and for the first time when we took up this task, a large part of the country's population was longing for basic amenities like toilets, electricity connections, gas connections, own house etc.
Friends,
There were two options before us - to walk the same path as before, or to create our own path and move forward with a new approach. After giving in-depth thought, we created a new path with a new approach and gave foremost priority to the aspirations of the people.
Meanwhile, the elections were held in the country, and our work was recognized, but another interesting thing came out with this. Today, at the Global Economic Summit, I want to share it with you. Friends, who are sitting here in this hall, must pay attention to this.
Friends,
The class I was referring to you about has a very important identity of 'Talking the Right Things'! That is, they always say the right thing. There is no harm in saying the right thing. But this class hates those who follow the mantra of 'Doing the Right Things'. So when there is a change in the Status Quo, such people start to see some kind of disruptions! You may notice that those who call themselves the Messiah of Gender Justice oppose our decision to enact a law against triple talaq. Those who keep talking about refugee rights to the world are protesting against the CAA being enacted for the refugees. Those who keep on talking about the Constitution day and night are opposing the abrogation of temporary provisions such as Article 370 that will ensure the implementation of the Constitution completely in Jammu and Kashmir. Those who talk of justice question the intention of the Supreme Court of the country if a decision of the Supreme Court goes against them.
Friends, some of you must have heard this Chaupai of Ramcharit Manas-
पर उपदेश कुशल बहुतेरे । जे आचरहिं ते नर न घनेरे ।
That is, it is very easy to teach others, but it is very difficult to follow those teachings by ourselves. As long as the Status Quo remains, they do not have any problem. Such people believe that 'Inaction is the most convenient action.' But for us nation building, development of the country, Good Governance is not a matter of convenience but Conviction - Conviction to Do the Right Thing, Conviction to Break the Status Quo.
Friends,
There are some people who by nature become prisoners of their thoughts. They are prisoners of their thought process for life. These people are happy with that. In other words, they make living in the Status Quo their life value. Despite pressure from them, our government is working to liberate all the systems of the country from the imprisonment of old ideas. One by one, we are taking every sector out of the Convenience of Inaction. Through DBT i.e. Direct Benefit Transfer we have brought a huge change in the Status Quo and saved thousands of crores of rupees from getting into the wrong hands.
By enacting the RERA Act, we took a huge step to free the real estate sector from the bondage of black money and facilitated the middle class to get its dream home.
This campaign of liberation also took place in the corporate world. We changed the status quo by enacting IBC. This not only ensured the return of thousands of crores of rupees, but also showed a path to the companies that were in trouble. Otherwise, there was just 'one way' here. One could enter a business but could not exit. We have created ways to help the failed businesses to come out of it.
We also took the banking system out of the old mindset by implementing the Mudra Yojana and have given more than 11 lakh crore rupees without bank guarantee to people - youth, women, and first-time entrepreneurs for self-employment. Similarly, we have changed the Status Quo and ensured better synergy and cooperation in our forces by creating CDS I.e. Chief of Defence Staff. We also made a big change in the system by giving 10 per cent reservation to the poor from the general category and have solved one of the major concerns they had.
Friends,
Since 2014, the country has moved ahead with the mantra of 'Co-Operation in Spirit, Collaboration in Action and Combination of Ideas'. Today, India is creating a model of Sustainable Growth that will be beneficial for the whole world. The world's largest financial Inclusion programme, the world's largest sanitation programme, the world's largest health assurance scheme, and many such schemes are helping in the development of the world. 21st century India is learning a lot and is equally ready to take the benefits of the development to the people of the country.
Friends,
The results are clearly visible in different sectors and in different fields. The speed of Highway Construction in the country was about 12 km per day 6 years ago. Today it is around 30 km. Six years ago the situation was such that only 600 kilometers of railway line was being electrified in a year. Last year, we have electrified 5300 km of railway lines. Six years ago, our airports were handling about 17 crore passengers. Now they are handling over 34 crores passengers.
Six years ago, cargo handling at our Major Ports was around 550 million tons. It has now reached close to 700 million tons. And I would like to draw your attention towards one more important thing and that is the Turn-around Time at Major Ports. Six years ago, the Turn-around Time at Ports was around 100 hours. Now it has come down to 60 hours. Relentless work is underway to reduce it further.
Friends,
These 5-6 examples are related to Connectivity. Everyone sitting in this hall knows that connectivity, infrastructure and governance have a huge effect on economic activities. Did such a major change take place just like that? No. We tried to eliminate silos in government departments, made systematic efforts and emphasized upon collaboration. We have corrected things by going absolutely to the ground level. You are also looking at the work being done at the airports and railway stations today. It is also important to understand the difference between what the people of our country deserve and what they have got.
Friends,
Some years ago, there used to be reports of accidents at railway crossings every other day. Why was it so? It was because before 2014, there were about 9000 Unmanned Level Crossings on the broad gauge line in the country. After 2014, we launched a campaign to free the broad gauge railway line from unmanned level crossings. The same was also the case with bio-toilets. During the previous government's regime, 9500 bio-toilets were built in three years. In the last 6 years, more than 2.25 lakh bio-toilets have been installed in railway coaches by our government. Compare the figures - 9000 and 2.25 lakhs!
Friends,
No one could have imagined that the passengers would be compensated for train delays. Train delays were taken normally; and never merited to be covered in news. But a new culture has been developed for the first time in this country wherein the passengers are being given refunds when the train is late. There are several airlines that do not give refunds even when they are late, but today passengers are being given refunds if the train is late. We have provided this facility to those who are travelling by Tejas train. We know how risky this step is. Immediately RTIs will be filed tonight and Journalists will also come out to know how much has been refunded, but we are satisfied and confident of our steps. We are taking the country in that direction where the government will be held responsible for train delays.
Friends,
Today the country is going through a big phase of change both in terms of economic and social aspects.
In the last few years, India has become an even stronger part of the Global Economy System. But, due to the international conditions the Global Economy is weak and is going through a difficult phase. Nevertheless, we have been taking as many steps as possible to ensure its minimal impact on the Indian economy and it has benefitted the economy. Our policies are clear, our fundamentals are strong. Recently, India has become the 5th largest economy in the world. Our position was11th when we came to power in 2014. Now we have reached fifth place.
Friends,
Our government is working on four different levels to achieve the target of $ 5 trillion economy.
First - Collaboration with private sector
Second-Fair Competition
Third- Wealth Creation, and
Fourth - deletion of archaic laws
Friends,
We have prepared a roadmap for investing more than 100 lakh crore rupees in the field of Infrastructure. We have chosen the path to strengthen PPP with PPP. We want to give Powerful Progressive Push to the country through Public-Private Partnership!!!
As per the experience, it has been seen that those sectors which are allowed to compete in the private sector, are growing rapidly. Therefore, our government is opening more and more sectors of the economy to the private sector.
Friends,
The government is standing firmly with the one who is moving ahead with honesty, throwing competition and creating wealth. For that, the law is constantly being simplified and old laws are being abolished. To increase fair competition, we are strictly dealing with both Corruption and Cronyism. Be it banking, FDI policies, or allotment of natural resources, cronyism is being removed everywhere. We have paid attention to Simplification, Rationalization and Transparency. Now, in this year's budget, we have come up with a new scheme called “Vivad Se Vishwas” to resolve the tax disputes. We are also moving fast towards the Labour Reforms. The day before yesterday, the government has de-criminalized many provisions, making major changes in the Companies Act.
Friends,
Today India is among the major countries in the world where Corporate Tax is the lowest. India is also the country with a record 77 rank improvement in just 5 years in Ease of Doing Business. Amidst these efforts of the government, the confidence of the foreign investors is also growing in the Indian economy. Just a short while ago, you heard the CEO of Blackstone here. He was saying that India gives the highest return in the world and they are planning to double their investment.
Friends,
Foreign Direct Investment of around 48 Billion Dollars poured into the country in 2019. There has been a growth of more than 16%. Similarly, India had 19 Billion Dollars Private Equity and Venture Capital Investment last year. Growth in this aspect was more than 53%. Foreign Portfolio Investors are also increasing investment. Last year, these investments amounted to about 19 Billion Dollars. It is clear that investors looking for new options are also moving towards India.
Friends,
Our government is in constant contact with all stakeholders, seeking feedback continuously and taking major decisions at every level. By liberating the country from the Status Quo, we are moving towards ‘collaborate to create’ not only at the national level but also internationally. You might be aware, when the proposal of International Yoga Day was submitted at the United Nations almost all the nations of the world had supported India. And perhaps for the first time in the history of UN, a resolution got the support of so many countries of the world. And the impact of yoga is such that, probably for the first time a meditation programme has been organized at this summit.
Friends,
Today, India has become one of the countries that has high participation rate in the Peace Keeping Forces. It is among the first countries to come forward to protect the citizens of other countries. Moreover, today India also plays a major role in setting up of international level institutions. Whether it is International Solar Alliance or Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, such future-oriented institutions have started at the initiative of India and today the whole world has started connecting with it. Friends, just like we have those forces that oppose changes and support status quo in our country, there are similar forces at the global level that are holding ground firmly.
Friends,
There was a time-period in history when everyone was walking on the path of revolution and struggle. At that time, it was said - Might is Right. Then came an Era, in which the dominant idea was - if only we stay with this faction, we would be able to survive. After that came the era of non-alignment! Then came an era in which the idea of developing relationships on the basis of utility started to dominate.
Now look at today's era. In this era of technology, the world is inter-connected, inter-related and also inter-dependent. These are the changes of this century. There are changes at the global level.
But still, the world is not able to come on a single platform or frame a Global Agenda, a global goal on how to overcome world poverty, how to end terrorism and how to handle climate change issues. Today the whole world is waiting for it, but it is not happening.
Friends,
The 21st century is full of opportunities. In the midst of these, there is a lack of a Common Global Voice today - a voice that may vary in tone, but together form a common tune; a voice that should be raised in unison. The question before the whole world is whether to adjust to the changing circumstances or develop a new path in a different way.
Friends,
In the midst of changing global conditions, India has also made massive changes. There was a period when India was neutral, we were neutral, but there was an equal distance from every country. How has the change occurred? Even today India is neutral, but not on the basis of distance, but on the basis of friendship. We are not only friends with Saudi Arabia but also with Iran. We are not only friends with America but also with Russia. Yet, we are neutral. There was a time when people were neutral by creating equal distance; we are neutral by creating equal friendship. In that period, they tried to escape by keeping distance. Today we are befriending and trying to walk hand in hand. This is the very essence of foreign and the economic policy of India today.
Friends,
I am ending my speech with the words of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhiji used to say: "I want the rise of India so that the whole world can benefit from it". This one line also has the Indian idea of Globalization and the mantra of collaboration for the future.
I once again wish you all the very best for your discussion on such an important subject. And I thank you for giving me the opportunity to be present amidst you. Thanking you all from the bottom of my heart, I conclude my speech.
Thank you!